No Place Like Home
by Lacerda
Summary: Set after New Earth. What if Rose had made a different reaction to her first adventure with her new, new Doctor? What would've happened? The Doctor makes it up to Rose by letting her choose their next adventure, and where would she have chosen? A whole day exploring the wonders of the TARDIS-and who's the Doctor to refuse? After all, the first and best adventures start at home.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Set after "New Earth"**

"_A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." _

― _George Augustus Moore_

After the last adventure, the Doctor decided that maybe his companion needed a break. Her being possessed by Cassandra so soon after his regeneration…well, he supposed that made him seem like some sort of irresponsible idiot who couldn't take care of his friends.

Which, he supposed, he was. Except for that 'idiot' bit, of course. He was absolutely brilliant and most definitely _not _an idiot.

Quietly, he wondered how he could make it up to her. He decided he'd just let her choose where they'd go next or what they'd do next. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

He got up from his seat in the console room and headed for a hallway. Any hallway would do, after all. Any room in the TARDIS was not in the same location twice so it would be futile to go looking for the hallway he found Rose's room in the last time.

He found the room relatively faster than he had expected. The TARDIS had seemed to take a liking to confuse this new body so he had expected that she'd make fun of him and lead him somewhere else, but thankfully, the TARDIS was feeling generous today. It only took him three tries until he found it. The light pink door that was, at the moment, between the library and the kitchen.

"Rose?" he called softly, knocking on the door. He waited a few seconds before the knob twisted open and his companion looked at him groggily. Her eyes were puffy, as though she hadn't slept the night before.

Which, the Doctor guessed, she didn't. Having someone take over your body was definitely not fun. He'd learned that the hard way, unfortunately.

"Hello," he smiled, "Did I wake you? I can…um, wait a while if you'd like. I mean, I'm not sure if the TARDIS would let me find your room this quick again so I might arrive a few minutes after you'd like me to see you and…" he stopped at the look Rose was giving him, "Uh yeah, sorry, rambling again. This me seems to do that a lot."

His companion nodded slowly, looking at him uncertainly. Oh, this was awkward. She probably hadn't gotten used to seeing him with an all new face and a whole new personality yet.

"Yeah so…" he said, running a hand through his hair (a habit he'd taken to), "I could come by later if you're busy now, I suppose?"

Rose stared at him for a few seconds, then shook her head, "No, 's okay."

The Doctor stared at her, puzzled.

"I mean…you can, uh, say whatever you were sayin' earlier," Rose said quickly, "'M not busy."

"Oh, oh right, wee-eell, I was thinking maybe this would be a bit strange for you, you know. Seeing me like…" he gestured to himself, "This. And, I suppose, what happened earlier with Cassandra that it may have, um, overwhelmed you? Yeah. So…so I was thinking that you could decide where we'd go next, you know as, um, compensation."

An uncomfortable silence passed between the two. The Doctor, fiddling with his coat pockets and Rose staring away, thinking.

"Um, well?" he said, once he ran out of pockets. He decided that he'd need to fix this new coat. Make the pockets bigger on the inside or something.

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Rose said quietly, "That'd be okay, I s'pose."

"Yeah, good." The Doctor said, "I'll just…leave you now…get ready and whatnot."

"Okay." Rose agreed, backing into the room and shutting the door.

The Doctor puffed his cheeks and exhaled slowly. Of all things that he'd expected after his regeneration, awkwardness was the one he had been most dreading. He'd hoped that right after; they'd be back to normal. The Doctor and Rose Tyler in the TARDIS, Defenders of the Earth, the stuff of legends, best friends…he sighed and spun around, heading back for the console room...

But the TARDIS had other plans for him. He found himself trailing through an endless maze of hallways, all which led to nowhere. He tried opening the doors; maybe one of them would lead him somewhere, and he would be able to go somewhere from there, but the TARDIS apparently did not approve of that plan because every single door he had found led to a cupboard. The same one each time, he had noted.

"Ah, c'mon, old girl…" he groaned, patting the walls desperately. He grinned when he heard her hum in response as a new hallway materialized in the corner.

"Thanks," he said, running towards it lest she decide he wasn't worth of escape yet and close the exit. He swerved left and gasped as he crashed into something. His eyes snapped open as he breathed in a familiar scent that only associated with one thing.

The Doctor looked down at the little human being who had softened his fall and hastily got up. He outstretched his hand to assist her up.

"Ow." Rose murmured, reaching for his hand. Once they had both gotten over the initial shock, they faced each other, almost simultaneously, the Doctor noted.

"Sorry," the Doctor smiled, sheepily, "The TARDIS was playing tricks on me and I sort of…bolted for the nearest exit."

"Riiight," Rose said, brushing herself off. He met her eyes and she smiled hesitantly. He returned the gesture, a bit brighter.

"So you've decided where you'd like to go?" he said, leading her to the console room. She nodded, "Yeah."

"Alright!" the Doctor said, cheerily. He ran up to the engine of the machine and placed his hand on the little screen, ready to add coordinates of wherever she wanted to go, "Where to?"

Rose crossed her arms, "Here."

"Alright!" he grinned, flicking a black switch on the TARDIS controls, "Wait…what?"

"Here, I just want to stay here. Anything wrong with that?" she asked, coolly. The Doctor stared at her, lost in thought. Why would she want to stay here? Sure, he supposed, it had been a tiring couple of days, and she might have been put through a lot more stress than she was used to, and maybe…oh.

He began noticing the little things he wondered how he looked over before. She had dark bags under her eyes, she probably wasn't sleeping well, he thought, guiltily. Her composure wasn't the same as it was when he had met her. She looked more tired, more worn. He realized she barely had any rest for a few days.

It was nothing for a Time Lord, but for a human…he nodded, "No, nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all but…well, I was thinking…" he trailed off. Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe, things have been a bit…rocky between _us _for…a relative amount of time," he paused; it hadn't been that long but… "I think ever since the, um, regeneration we've been getting off on the wrong foot and you know, with Cassandra taking over you and all that…" he glanced at her, warily, "You might think that I'm not trustworthy anymore but I'm still him, you know? I'm still him, just a bit different—"

Rose stared at him.

"Well, a lot different, but we've got some things in common," he said, "I still like bananas, still love the running…and I still care for you, Rose. Maybe you think that in this new body that maybe I'm completely different and rude and sideburn-y," his eyes lit as he noticed the corners of her lips twitched upward, "But no, I still protect my friends, yeah? And we're best mates, yeah?"

Rose smiled now, "The point, Doctor?"

"Well, the point is…maybe, if you'd like to have a free day that, maybe we could…spend it together? Just so we can, you know, patch things up?" he looked up, hopefully.

"Yeah," Rose said, nodding "That's…yeah, okay."

He grinned, "Great."

"Now, we're spending the whole day in the TARDIS," he said, taking a step down from the controls so that he was level with her, "Exploring."

"Yeah."

"And I bet there are tons of rooms in here I completely forgot about…" he said.

Rose grinned, "Yeah."

"And maybe a ton of new ones that I probably haven't seen yet."

"I bet."

They shared a grin before the Doctor took her hand and they dashed into the maze of hallways and rooms the TARDIS provided, ready to explore each one. After all, the best of adventures start at home, yeah?

* * *

**Author's Note**

This is my otp and I decided that it cannot be my otp if I haven't written anything about it, so here it is. If you haven't already figured out, this is basically what I think would've happened if, after New Earth, Rose made a different reaction to her new, new Doctor. I'm sorry if it seems a bit out-of-character, this is my first Doctor Who story and I don't really have much experience, starting the series only this month (I'm on season 6!).

Doctor Who belongs to its respective owners.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"_Did perpetual happiness in the Garden of Eden maybe get so boring that eating the apple was justified?" _

― _Chuck Palahniuk_

The first room they had entered wasn't exactly the epitome of adventure. The Doctor was fairly disappointed, in fact to find that the first thing that the TARDIS had provided them was the kitchen. He walked inside, letting go of Rose's hand.

"The kitchen…" he murmured, placing a hand on the cupboard closest to him and opening it.

"Ooh, crisps," Rose said, her head peeking over his shoulder, "Got'ta love crisps," she grinned, stepping closer and grabbing a bag. She turned towards the Doctor, "Why'd we go here?"

The Doctor shrugged, "I don't know. The TARDIS, knowing her, has probably got something planned. Don't you, old girl?" he said. A faint humming sound filled the room.

"'s that bad…Doctor?" Rose said, pausing before saying his name.

He felt the TARDIS's presence in his mind. Nothing about the signals she was emitting felt mischievous. In fact, he sensed she felt quite calm. That was a good sign. Even if the TARDIS had the ability to shield all her thoughts to him, she usually warned him before something bad or even relatively bad was going to happen.

"Nah, I don't think so." He replied, "But we better take all of this just in case," he said, grabbing all the bags of crisps. Rose nodded, taking some as well.

Suddenly, a low rumbling emitted from their side. They turned at the same time, finding a new door, colored a light red. The Doctor shared a glance with his companion. He wasn't surprised to see curiosity in her gaze. She was _his _friend, after all. A fellow TARDIS-traveler—which meant that she had a trait that all his companions had too. Curiosity.

"You can go first, if you want," the Doctor offered as the door opened dramatically. Rose nodded and entered the room, the door closing behind her.

Must be motion-censored, the Doctor thought. After a few seconds, the doors of the mysterious room opened again. Rose was waiting behind the door, her eyes lit up in disbelief, "C'mere, it's even bigger than the control room!"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, following her inside. As he observed his surroundings, he was hit by a sudden wave of déjà vu. They had stumbled upon what looked to be, the theatre. It had been ages since he'd even set foot in this room!

It was a big dome-shaped place with a stage in the front and hundreds of rows of red plush chairs before it.

"You had a theatre-a _theatre_!" Rose exclaimed, setting down the crisp bags. He watched her survey the room.

"What do you even watch in here?" she said, "There's the cinema room, but that's just a projector and some blankets but this is…a huge room…for plays? Musicals? Ballads?"

"I don't know," the Doctor said, he smiled at her, "But the TARDIS gave us nibbles," he signaled to the crisp bags, "So we can safely assume that there should be some sort of presentation starting."

Rose simply nodded and took a seat. The Doctor plopped into the one next to her as music began playing, reverberating from invisible speakers. Suddenly, a dark blue humanoid shape strode onto the stage.

Hologram, the Doctor knew immediately. The theatre showed plays via hologram. Oh this was brilliant, really. He explained the mechanics to Rose.

"Oh this is brilliant. The TARDIS, you see, makes use of deoxyribonucleic-holograms, very advanced technology requiring the use of actual DNA, but the TARDIS can find bits, spare bits of DNA molecules in the air from whichever timeline it's in, which is in every timeline technically, and use it to structure holograms that perfectly imitate the form and sound. The hologram is dark blue now because it needs time to c—"

"Doctor," Rose said, "I don't mind the science talk, really, but I can't concentrate on the…" she trailed off, gesturing to the stage where, just as he had figured, the blue form had taken shape into a perfect copy of William Shakespeare welcoming the 'audience'.

"Oh, right. Right, yes. Sorry," the Doctor amended, shifting in his seat. He opened a bag, trying to enjoy the play but his mind kept drifting elsewhere. He had seen the play before, of course, with the actual Shakespeare and found it marvelous but he really wasn't one to watch things twice. This new body didn't like repeats. He briefly wondered why the TARDIS chose this stage play when she knew that he had seen it already.

He glanced to the side, catching Rose's eye. He raised an eyebrow questioningly, but she just looked away.

"Macbeth!" the hologram-ghost of Banquo cried onstage.

The Doctor sighed and twiddled his fingers. When that wasn't enough to entertain him, he began swinging his feet. When he eventually got bored of that, he started holding his breath to see how long it would take until he needed air. Then he began playing thumb-wrestling with himself, then chess (in his mind, of course), then tic-tac-toe, then…

"Doctor, if you're really _that _bored, we can go." Rose said. He jumped, surprised, and turned to face her. She was staring at him, her eyes showing almost the equal amount of boredom.

"Ah, no," he said. Rose stared at him, puzzled.

"No, I meant that, um, yes I am quite…unentertained but we can't go."

"Why?"

"Because that would just confuse the TARDIS. Remember what I was saying about deoxyribonucleic-holograms?" he said, "Well, the air around us has already been modified so that the hologram projectors won't accidentally use our DNA. If we go out of this room, we might trigger some sort of DNA-flux and either we get mixed DNA, and I don't want to know what would happen if we do, or the hologram projector might explode."

"Oh." Rose said, simply. She paused a while before letting out a little chuckle, "Well, that's a bit bad because I'm completely lost."

"With what?" the Doctor asked, then his eyebrows rose in realization, "Oh, oh, the play? Well, I could tell you, but it's bad luck, you see, to say the name of the play…during the play."

"What, Mac—"

He shushed her, putting a finger to his lips quickly.

"Oh, right sorry," she laughed, leaning closer, "I didn't know you were one to believe in _luck, _Doctor."

"I don't, Rose," he said, then smiled at the dubious expression she was giving him, "Names have power. There were these, in lack of better human terms, witches, you see, who existed at the beginning of the universe. Carrionites, they were called. You know how humans use math and science to make sense of things? Well, these Carrionites, they used words and sort of…I don't know how it happened, should find out someday, but they put a curse on the name of the play."

"Oh." Rose said, "So how long have we got 'til the play ends?"

"Maybe…half an hour?" the Doctor said, staring at the stage.

"And the TARDIS can't just stop the play."

"Oh, I think she can…but she won't." he said.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

Rose groaned and slumped into her chair, "Oh, that's fantastic. We have absolutely nothing to do for half an hour except watch Ma—the play-which-shall-not-be-named?"

The Doctor chuckled, "No, Rose Tyler."

Rose snapped up at the sound of her name. He licked his lips, liking the way the name rolled off his tongue.

"_You _have absolutely nothing to do, whereas I can just continue playing Find-Four with myself."

"Oh is that what you were doing," Rose rolled her eyes, "No, I'm not allowing you to leave me here, bored out of my mind, _Doctor_. We do something, whether Tic-Tac-Toe or Dots or Rock-Paper-Scissors. We do something together, or not at all."

The Doctor stared at her, unblinkingly for a few seconds, and then broke out into a wide grin.

"Well, I suppose Rock-Paper-Scissors is no fun alone."

"Better with two," Rose whispered, repeating the words he had once said in a body not so long before.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Yay, 2 favorites and 4 follows! No reviews yet though :c I'd really appreciate it if one of you left one so I'd know if this storyline is, if only vaguely, interesting.

Oh, and if some of the science stuff are wrong or if some of the things the Doctor says are...not fact, then please forgive me! I'm only in my first year of high school and I really don't know much about it!

Disclaimer: Doctor Who and its characters belong to their respective owners!


	3. Chapter 3

_"The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn't one."  
― Margaret Atwood_

"Oh thank god it's finished!" Rose said, suddenly rising from her seat. She immediately pulled her hand away from the Doctor's. They were in the middle of a thumb-wrestling match but she was actually quite relieved that she had an excuse to stop because it would be a bit humiliating to lose at thumb-wrestling for, what, the 31st time in a row? Wincing, she realized that her hand was quite moist.

"Eurgh, Doctor…your hands sweat," she said, wiping her hand on his coat.

"Oi!" the Doctor cried indignantly, "It could've been your sweat. I'd assume it was because Time Lords can control their bod—"

"Okay, enough information, thanks." Rose interrupted, stretching for a bit. She watched as the Doctor got up from his seat with elegance. She bit her lip as a strange wave of déjà vu enveloped her.

Why couldn't she shake the feeling that she had seen this man before? Could this Doctor sometime in the future…she brushed away the thought. The Doctor knew the consequences of messing with timelines and wouldn't risk all of that just to visit her sometime in the past—nor did he have any reason to. Perhaps she was thinking of some look-alike, maybe some customer she had spoken to at the shop she had once worked in.

"Rose, you alright?" the Doctor said, waking her from her thoughts. He was staring at her and she realized, with some embarrassment, that all the while she was staring straight at him.

"Oh yeah, uh, sorry. 'Was just…daydreaming, that's all." She said, quickly. He nodded and offered her his hand.

"C'mon, before the next play starts," the Doctor said, flashing a grin. She nodded as he pulled her towards the door at a quick pace. This Doctor, she supposed, seemed to have _some_ traits of his previous self—especially the running. She smiled fondly at the memory. That was the Doctor, she supposed. Always running.

She let him pull her until they got to a door: light green with a flower etched on it. She watched the Doctor as his eyes lit up in realization and recognition.

"What's that room, Doctor?" she asked, "The garden?"

Rose had been to the garden once before. It was beautiful. A dome shaped room with artificial (but definitely realistic) sunlight streaming through the dome's glass panes. The garden, she remembered, had hundreds of different species of plants from across the galaxy. She wondered then whether the Doctor had had any regeneration that had liked plants or whether the TARDIS just picked plants wherever they went.

"Rose," the Doctor suddenly said, snapping her back into reality for the second time that day, "Were you even listening?"

"Ah, sorry, no, what were you saying?"

"I was just—ah, never mind, why don't you just see for yourself."

Rose nodded and turned the door knob.

(x)

The Doctor grinned as the door swung open, revealing rows upon rows of roses. He turned to face his companion who was staring at her surroundings, eyes wide in utter shock.

He laughed, "Rows upon rows of roses for Rose. Nice tongue twister, don't you think?"

"Doctor…" she said.

"Well, I suppose it's not a tongue twister because it's not very hard to say. Or is that just me?"

"Doctor…"

"Rows upon rows of roses for Rose. Rows upon rows of roses for Rose. Rows upon—"

"Doctor!" she said, glaring at him with the Tyler famous listen-to-me glare. His mouth snapped shut with an audible click. He looked her in the eyes, trying to figure out what she was feeling but they revealed nothing. He inwardly scoffed; windows to the soul…suuure they were.

"You're listening now?" she said. He nodded.

"Good," Rose said, "Now, Doctor, think about it—if your name were, say, Marigold, or some other type of flower, would you like it if your…friend…brought you a bouquet of marigolds?"

"Or any other flower. Well, I suppose we'd have a laugh. Pretty ironic once you think about it," he said, his hands slowly slipping out of his pockets. He wondered where she was going with this.

"Mmhm. Yeah…'Prolly somethin' you wouldn't mean to do anyway…just irony…" she trailed off, her eyes distant. He looked at her, "Rose, what's wrong? What d'you mean something that I wouldn't mean to do? Are you…" he briefly considered the thought, "Allergic to roses or something?"

"No, no, it's nothin'. Forget about it," she said. He furrowed his eyebrows in frustration, opening his mouth to ask once more but before he could even say a word, she raised her hand. He looked at her questioningly.

"Doctor, 's my personal life. If I don't want to talk about it, and I _don't _want to talk about it, I won't talk about it."

He shut his mouth again, sighing inwardly. He wondered what she must think of him. Now that he was…different…he guessed that she would find it a tad awkward to just act like they were best mates again after his face and personality but he never imagined it would be this difficult.

He could slightly understand where she was coming from, though. Being best mates with someone then have them suddenly change in not just face but personality. He frowned, locking the memories of his childhood away. Reminiscing could wait another time.

He watched as she wandered off, walking past the rows of roses from so many different planets. He noticed she wasn't even looking at the flowers, just straight at the door to the other end.

Silently, he thought about whether she would've confided in him if he still had big ears and blue eyes.

"Why are you doing this to me…to her, old girl?" he asked, brushing his hand on the TARDIS wall. The ships probably knew why roses would trigger something in his companion. The ship was telepathic. She might have planned it all along. But why?

_It'll come together in time_, she hummed.

_You're a bloody time machine! _

The TARDIS didn't reply. The Doctor groaned, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He was beginning to wonder whether this idea of Rose's would actually help them or just harm them.

It wasn't her fault, he supposed, that the TARDIS was doing this to them. His hands clenched in frustration. This body didn't react well to stress too, he noted.

And it was only the third room they had been to!

* * *

**Author's Note**

This chapter only took so long because it took a while to finish the next one. Yes, the next chapter is ready but I always make sure to be done with 2 before posting one. How are you guys liking this so far? I'd really appreciate it if you left a review! And ideas are very much welcome!

Doctor Who and its characters is (c) to its respective owners


	4. Chapter 4

**Trigger Warning: This chapter contains a panic attack.**

"_But the memories that hang heaviest are the easiest to recall. They hold in their creases the ability to change one's life, organically, forever. Even when you shake them out, they've left permanent wrinkles in the fabric of your soul." _

― _Julie Gregory_

Rose shuddered, opening the door on the other end and trying to push away the memories her mind was so fixed on remembering. She winced as she it came flooding back to her.

(x)

It had been another rough day—none of the companies had agreed to hire her boyfriend and he had lashed out on her again. She worried her head off when he left, saying that he had to think. Had she done something wrong?

'You should have done something,' she thought to herself, 'You could have encouraged him and maybe he wouldn't be so angry at you.'

She began to doubt that Jimmy would ever be as famous as he claimed he'd be, but she couldn't say it out loud. She had to believe in him. He was the only one she had left.

She was so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed that the door of the minivan was clicking open. She looked up, "Jimmy!"

He held a bouquet of scarlet red roses in his hand. She grinned—maybe she hadn't done anything bad at all. Was he here to apologize?

"Hey babe, c'mon in," he said, smirking cheekily to someone just outside the door. The smile was wiped clean off her face when she realized it was another girl. Brunette, dark eyes, pretty. Very pretty.

"Jimmy?" she said quietly. He jumped up and swiveled his head around, catching her eye.

"Who's that?" she and the other girl had asked simultaneously. Jimmy looked at the brunette, "Ah, nobody, sweets. Jus'…housekeeping. Yeah, the maid," he looked at Rose then, eyes cold, "Rose get out."

"What, but…" she said, frowning. He scowled at her, "Rose, just get out."

She stood up, outraged. All the hurt and anger and resentment she had been bubbling in suddenly burst out. She marched towards him and raised her hand.

"You bastard," she said, smacking him in the cheek. Hard. A soft thump sounded as the bouquet of roses Jimmy was holding fell onto the ground. She scowled, grabbed the fallen flowers and marched out the door, tears streaming down her face.

She didn't look back as Jimmy swore and slammed the door. She stared at the crumpled roses in her hand, looked up and took a step forward. Her first free step in a long while. Her first step to home.

And when she had finally arrived home, she had enjoyed burning the flowers.

(x)

She gasped, trying to take in as much air as she could. Tears were brimming her eyes. No, she wouldn't let this get to her. Not again. Her chest pounded as her heart raced. She bit her lip as the world swirled a bit around her. She couldn't move. She couldn't catch her breath.

"Rose, are you okay?" she heard as two hands held her shoulders. It didn't help, she felt trapped. All she could manage was a small shaking movement of her head. The Doctor let go of her and she heard him move in front of her but she couldn't see his expression. Her eyes were sealed shut.

"Rose…" he said, voice soft as he tried to coax her back into reality. She shook her head again, movements sharp.

"Rose, you want to come with me awhile, take a seat?" he said, still in the same hypnotic tone. She thought about it. A few seconds, a minute, she couldn't tell, had passed until she had nodded her head ever so slightly.

"I'm going to take your hand now, okay?" he said. She nodded and slowly opened her eyes. The Doctor was staring at her, eyes filled with worry and guilt and he slipped his hand into hers. She wondered why it felt so right, as though her fingers were perfectly shaped to match the spaces in between his hands. The thought crossed her mind that maybe it was because she was in the room with him when he had regenerated that he seemed so familiar.

She felt a small tug and snapped back to reality. She felt light-headed but her heart rate had slowed down significantly as the Doctor led her to a plush couch in the corner of the room. He helped her sit down and knelt in front of her. She chuckled a bit, trying to lighten the mood, "You should—" she took in a shaky breath, "You should see your face right now."

His eyebrows, if possible, seemed to scrunch up even more. He breathed in and raised his hand, holding up four fingers, "Rose, how many fingers am I holding up?"

She looked at him confused. Her voice seemed lost and it took a while for her to respond, "F-four."

He nodded, "What's your favorite color?"

Her breath was shaky and it took a bit longer to reply, "Pink."

"What color is the TARDIS?"

She knew what he was trying to do. Distract her. She gladly accepted it and began focusing only on the questions he was asking, "Blue."

This went on for a while. A long while. She couldn't keep track of time but she was slowly improving as the Doctor brought her back into reality. It took shorter and shorter to find the answers to his questions, and she was finding her voice and her footing back. When she had begun responding automatically, the Doctor finally stopped asking questions and a comfortable silence fell over the room.

She cleared her throat. She still felt light-headed but a whole lot better than before.

"Panic attack," the Doctor said quietly, voice still as soothing as before, "Mild one…you okay?"

She took a short, slow breath, "Yeah. Y-yeah…'m fine. It's happened before."

She could already picture the puzzled expression on the Doctor's face, trying to piece things together.

"How…how'd you know what to do?" she asked. Her voice sounded soft and distant even to herself. The Doctor looked at her and their gazes locked. She saw indecision in his eyes, as though he were carefully constructing a sentence.

"Had some of them happen to me before," he finally said. She blinked once. Twice. Then nodded and relaxed more into the couch. Silence fell once more.

(x)

"Rose, what happened back there?" he asked delicately, "You don't need to talk about it but…but I think I might be able to help you more if I knew."

She shuddered as the memories lashed out again and quickly looked into his eyes, seeking for a quick distraction. This version of the Doctor had a young face, younger than his previous self at least, but the expression he wore in his eyes was the same. Old, tired and held so much darkness in them that angels dared not tread in them.

She kept her gaze and breathed out shakily, "'S okay, Doctor…I can handle on my own, thanks…"

His eyes, if possible, seemed to darken even more, "Are you sure? Maybe…if I knew what you were going through I could…" he trailed off. She frowned, trying to take a deep breath. Should she tell him? Would it make things better? She felt a soft, comforting hum in her mind. The TARDIS, she realized.

_Go, my Bad Wolf, _she seemed to know what the ship was saying even though it spoke no words. She bit her lip and looked up, seeing the reassuring yet unfamiliar face before her.

"Alright, then," she said softly, "But you…you have t'promise not to…" her words caught in her throat when the Doctor sent her a look that wiped away any thoughts that he would judge her.

"You can stop whenever you want to," he said, "And if you don't want to tell me—"

"No," she said, "No, I'm going to tell you. Th'full story."

She took a deep breath as the memories turned into thoughts and the thoughts turned into words and the words turned to a story.

* * *

**Author's Note**

This is my last chapter for now. I lost inspiration for this fic, and I'm so very sorry but I'll end you with this. I may or may not continue. Take note that this isn't a full-on hiatus, or at least I think it isn't, but this fic might not be updated in a long time or it could be updated tomorrow! Who knows? I hope you enjoyed the I-think-is-the-last-chapter of the story No Place Like Home.


End file.
